My name is Mathew Mendel and I am a teacher who was bit 12 times over 9 school days. I continued to work after this and had an average of 3 ARD meetings a week with all the stress therein. On top of that I taught students math and social skills and managed behaviors and assisted in ensuring that accommodations and behavior intervention plans were followed. All of this burnt me out and hurt me. I left this job at the end of February, hoping to find a less stressful, less painful position elsewhere. Two months later and I have been unable to find work for this school year. Often I am met with the term “overqualified” to the point that even HEB only offered me a part time position. My savings, what little it was on a teachers salary, will run out on May 20th. When June 1st arrives I won’t be able to pay rent without help. This will continue to be true until August when the supposed “teacher shortage” realizes it exists again and I hopefully get a position. I have offers for then from a few districts thankfully, but getting to that first check in September has proven to be something that I cannot get to without asking for help from the kindness of strangers.

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